INSPIRE platform

? Highlights from Photonics West 2025! ? The world’s premier event for lasers, biomedical optics, biophotonic technologies, quantum, and optoelectronics took place in late January in San Francisco—and INSPIRE was there! ?? INSPIRE is a groundbreaking technology that enables the seamless integration of high-performance building blocks—lasers, detectors, and ultralow-loss passives—on a scalable manufacturing platform designed for high-volume production. This is a game-changer for key application areas, including: ??Fiber sensor readouts ??Microwave photonics engines ??Optical switch matrices Beyond these, INSPIRE is also shaping the future of radar and #LiDAR sensing systems, crucial for autonomous vehicles requiring compact, high-precision, and highly integrated devices. At the PhotonDelta event at Plug and Play Sunnyvale, Marcus Dahlem highlighted how INSPIRE technology is accelerating innovation in this space. INSPIRE also took center stage at #QuantumWest, showcased at the AMIRES booth. Quantum computing is one of the many areas where INSPIRE is expected to make a real impact, thanks to the wafer-scale integration of ultra-low passives and high-bandwidth modulators, as enabled by micro-transfer printing. Our dedicated partners are working hard to mature the technology, establish a robust supply chain, and bring the INSPIRE platform to market. Key European supply chain members who exhibited at Photonics West included: ?? imec (Silicon photonics – PIC volume production) ??SMART Photonics (InP components) ?? X-Celeprint (Micro-transfer printing equipment) The future of photonics is here, and INSPIRE is at the forefront! ??? #PhotonicsWest #INSPIRE #QuantumWest #Photonics #MicroTransferPrinting #AutonomousVehicles #QuantumComputing #Lidar #Radar #Innovation Photonics Research Group (Ghent University - imec) Eindhoven University of Technology Sander Reniers Thales Science Ruggero Loi Raja Fazan G. SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics ?

Good morning to all the attendees of this year’s SPIE Photonics West, the premier event for optics and photonics and newly also quantum tech! Wishing everyone a productive and INSPIRE-ing time exploring cutting-edge innovations, networking, and advancing the frontiers of science and technology. Check out our presence at the event and stop by at our Partners' booths and/or at the presentation to find out how INSPIRE platfrom enables different applications from #LiDAR to #quantum SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics X-Celeprint Photonics Research Group (Ghent University - imec) SMART Photonics AMIRES Marcus Dahlem #PhotonicsWest2025

The INSPIRE consortium met in Thales to assess the progress and plan for the final run to manufacture InP devices which will be printed on SiN, using micro-transfer printing technology. In INSPIRE project, the large-scale manufacturing of transfer-printed assemblies is being extended to PIC technology by enabling relaxed alignment tolerances to the micron-scale and enhancing the capabilities for high volume printing. INSPIRE will validate the cross-platform building blocks which leverage the powerful combination of European pilot line technology and proven printing methods in three applications: ????Fiber sensor readout ???? Microwave photonic engine ???? Optical switch matrix ? ????Congratulations to INSPIRE Partners on their progress in chips fabrication and test-bed preparation! Stay tuned for more updates and demonstration results! ???? ? #research #photonics #horizon2020 #photonicintegration #PhotonicsEU #microtransferprinting Photonics21 SMART Photonics X-Celeprint Photonics Research Group (Ghent University - imec) Thales Eindhoven University of Technology AMIRES Martijn Heck Ruggero Loi Ruud Vullers Pim Voorthuijzen Yuqing Jiao Sander Reniers Gunther Roelkens Marika Kurova Alessia Senes Raja Fazan G. Yihui Wei Biwei Pan

Check out animation video made by our Partner SMART Photonics showing how photonic chips are made!

Our partner SMART Photonics has announced a strategic collaboration with X-FAB to enable micro-transfer printing for heterogeneous integration. This is great news for potential end-users of INSPIRE technology! ????Read all the details below!

INSPIRE consortium has successfully passed a review held in Prague. INSPIRE project aims to establish world-first platform combining low-loss waveguides with InP actives to sustain Europe’s industrial leadership in photonics and strengthen manufacturing by enabling low-cost assembly of InP, Si/SiN through micro-transfer printing. ????The Partners have made significant advances in designing novel devices and gained many learnings for their future industrial-scale processing. INSPIRE’s ambition is to pave the way for accelerated market uptake of the developed technology, through the ecosystem comprising JePPIX , ePIXfab - the European Silicon Photonics Alliance, and photonixFAB. To validate the technology, the building block capabilities will be demonstrated in three applications requiring circuit level functios far beyond state of the art of any individual wafer scale technology: ????Fiber sensor readout ???? Microwave photonic engine ???? Optical switch matrix Follow us so you don’t miss the results! ???? A huge thank you to all of the partners for their hard work, dedication and for the enjoyable experience in Prague! #research #photonics #horizon2020 #photonicintegration #PhotonicsEU Photonics21 SMART Photonics X-Celeprint Photonics Research Group (Ghent University - imec) Thales Science Eindhoven University of Technology AMIRES Martijn Heck Ruggero Loi Ruud Vullers Pim Voorthuijzen Yuqing Jiao Sander Reniers Gunther Roelkens Marika Kurova Alessia Senes Yihui Wei Biwei Pan Raja Fazan G. Marcus Dahlem Chunhui Yao David Barcons Ruiz

Last week, our Coordinator Martijn Heck gave an invited talk at CLEO Conference, in California, within the special symposium ?3-D Horizons in Photonics: Unraveling the Next Frontier of Integrated Circuits“. The session was dedicated to exploration of the challenges related to transition from 2-D to 3-D?fabrication processes and its impact on future PICs, and also the broader IC industry: how does the convergence of mature CMOS processes with new 3-D design philosophies impact scalability, efficiency, and performance? And as the line between electronic and photonic circuits becomes increasingly blurred, how do we navigate the challenges while harnessing the unparalleled opportunities? Martijn’s contribution focused on Wafer-scale Heterogeneous Integration for Integrated Photonics. ?? INSPIRE was presented as a cutting-edge project leveraging micro-transfer printing as large volume manufacturing technique for InP/SiN PICs, aiming to revolutionize the PIC manufacturing.

In February, the cutting-edge discussions at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference - ISSCC in San Francisco unveiled groundbreaking avenues for advancing IC design and system capabilities. Among the interesting presentations was INSPIRE’s Gunther Roelkens' “Micro-Transfer Printing for Heterogeneous Electronic-Photonic Integrated Circuits” ?? Spotlight on Micro-Transfer Printing for Heterogeneous Electronic-Photonic Integrated Circuits ?? One highlight was the discussion on heterogeneous integration, where both photonic and electronic chiplets come into play and can be combined in a package. This approach promises denser integration and enhanced performance for the next generation of highly integrated electrical and optical transceivers. Gunther Roelkens captivated the audience with the potential of micro-transfer printing for heterogeneous integration. This technique opens new horizons for the semiconductor industry, enabling seamless integration of diverse components with unprecedented precision and efficiency. #ISSCC #MicroTransferPrinting #Electronics #ICDesign #heterogeneousintegration #integratedphotonics #EUchipsAct